- Paraphrased from comments made by President John Sheridan during his departure from Babylon 5, December 2262
* * *
Tuzanor, Minbar; the night of September 14th, 2262.
The beep of the communications board in their quarters was harsher then it had to be, William realized, as he gently placed Richard in his crib, and then moved over to the terminal. Who, in Valen's Name, would bother them on this night, of all nights?
And then, he saw the ident code for the two messages awaiting him...and also, the other side of his Soul, and he frowned. For *both* messages were from White Star Four...his former command, and now Brianna's. What could possibly have happened? He reached out a finger, placed his finger against a crystal that chimed...and then, once again, the world as he had known it turned...
A face appeared on the screen; a face he knew all too well. And this face was now streaked with tears, her sadness more profound then he had ever seen before. "Brianna?"
But the message was not live, and as he listened to the words, the pain of this ending struck dearly into him; it was a time of endings, and of partings. This one, however...he had not wanted this to be; had not believed that it would ever happen, like this!
"William...my *friend*. So much, we have been through together; so much pain, so much sorrow, so much life and so much death. You saved my life, a long time ago, and now, because of a promise I made to another, my hand has been forced, and in a way I could never have predicted. It came so soon...time's hourglass running out, the sands of my freedom running away, lost among the stars we loved so much. But even as the Third Age we helped to create moves on, another age is passing; an age of peace, an age of trust. We hoped...we *believed* that in defeating the Shadows and President Clark, we would find a peace to last a thousand years.
We thought wrong, I am afraid. There are always more kinds of darkness, always something else hiding under the bed. And so, because of what we have had, I regretfully have to inform you of a truth I knew, over a year ago...a truth I didn't want you to know about, until now.
When we were on Mars, you believed that we had triumphed against the Psi Corps; that you rescued me, with your allies in the Resistance. I...I *didn't* want to upset what you thought you had done; a final trick, a full house played. But Bester...Bester doesn't work that way, William; Bester *always* gets what he wants...he always has a card up his sleeve. And, in the end, since he couldn't have Lyta, he arranged to capture the Vorlon's consolation prize."
He bowed his head, teeth gritted together in frustration; of course.
Bester. In the end, it always seemed to come back to him.
"If I hadn't agreed to his bargain, William, he would have killed you...all of you; I couldn't let that happen. And as a result, even as this message reaches you, I will have left White Star Four. I can't tell you where I'm going, only that I have to honour the promise I made, to keep you, and the children, safe. As long as you all stay alive, nothing else that happens to me *matters*...William, you have to believe this is true.
Well; I...I suppose this is the end of our Ride, together, then." At that, he watched Brianna nearly break down, but then, her eyes came back to the screen, behind a glaze of tears. "I don't know if, or when, I will ever see you again; and maybe, it's better that way. In the conflict still to come between the Psi Corps and the rest of humanity, there can only be two sides. In fulfilling my promise, I have shown what side I *must* serve, if you are to live.
Farewell, my friend; my commander; Isil'zha Veni...in Valen's Name.
I will always remember you."
* * *
White Star Four.
"The crew needs to know the truth, Julia!" Larieken insisted, as he and Julia strode down the grand corridor together. "We cannot hide this from them for much longer."
"We have to be sure, Larieken!" Julia hotly replied, her gaze stinging. "As far as we can determine, all of our fighters and shuttles are accounted for. If this is true, then Brianna *hasn't* left us, yet!"
Larieken sighed. "There is a saying that you humans are fond of, my young friend...and I quote; 'When all other answers have been elliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, is the truth'. You have said, yourself, that our Val'na has been acting...peculiar as of late. What this meant was unknown until her disappearance. But it is clear that her quarters have been vacated; most of what she values has been left behind, including all of her uniforms. The only thing that she took with her, a symbol of what she has lived for and fought for alongside her friends and comrades..."
"Her badge; she took her badge with her. And that, Larieken, tells me something you don't fully understand, because you weren't there to see it happen! The last time she was dragged away from the Anla'shok, she left it *behind*. This time, she took it with her...any questions?"
"I see." the Minbari replied, his gaze now troubled. "You may have a point, at that."
And then, the two, Ranger and Ranger-soon-to-be, reached the hangar bay of the White Star Four, and as the doors sprang aside, they strode within, and stopped. It was, indeed, as the sensors had indicated; the fighter and shuttle presently aboard their command were all accounted for. And yet...Julia frowned, her concentration immense; was this, in the end, a message that Brianna had left behind her? And if so, what did it mean?
Only *one* way to find out. Leaving a puzzled Larieken behind her, she strode, calmly and firmly, towards the nearest shuttle; walked up to it, her gaze appreciative, somehow; and as the others watched, she put her hand up to the purplish-silver skin of the shuttle.
And smiled as her hand passed through it...and then, amid the consternation behind her, she winced, and closed her eyes for a second as a ripple passed through her mind, and then she opended them again...to find the shuttle *gone*.
Of course! It had never been there at all. Julia smiled; she had long suspected there had been more behind William's trip to Mars then she had suspected; and it was true. And if Bester had somehow managed to snare her, the demonstration they had just beheld, a telepathic projection of awesome power, showed that Brianna might have more tricks up her sleeve then anybody realized.
And later on, just as she was fading towards sleep, an all too familiar face appeared on her comm screen; a face of sadness, and of hope. A face of a friend, a voice of farewells...and she understood.
And when she awoke, it was to learn of something both less and more remarkable. With Brianna gone, that left Larieken and her in command of what had, originally, been William's White Star. That this would not last was clearly apparent, for the High Council, upon learning of the situation, had quickly recalled them to Minbar.
And she had looked into the mirror that morning, and seen a stranger look back. Fifteen years it had been since the Battle of the Line, the battle that changed history; fifteen years since her birth. But because of a gift she had never truly understood, and maybe never would, she now appeared closer to nineteen, or so; a young woman, pale of face, hair almost as dark as the uniform she wore, eyes not quite so dark, but darker then they had been. At least some things had stayed the same.
And in the end, a remark she had made in passing to her mother, long ago and in another age, finally became the truth, that day.
"You want me to do what? But I'm not even..."
"Are you not?" Larieken replied, his gaze amused, as they walked down the corridor together. "In all but ritual, you are, Julia Tikopai, what has long since been intended. Forged of fire and pain, trained by legends. Your time is coming, an age the Anla'shok has yet to see. Consider this a first step on a long journey, if you will; the beginning of your own legacy."
And so it was, that she met the gazes of those who had been William's crew, as she arrived on the bridge, alone. Some were astonished, and some...some looked at her, and nodded, their expressions all too solemn, and knowing. She sighed, as she stood, alone; a long journey, was that what Larieken had said? Well, you had to start somewhere.
"Helm."
"Ready."
"Take us home."
* * *
"All of her messages were different...but in some respects, they all said the same things; they spoke of betrayal, of past glories, and of future fates. What we had shared, together, was now gone forever, stolen by a promise. In the end, though, we *would* speak again, as a final time of sorrow and regrets came upon us all. But there are things about that time I cannot speak of...even now, and here, there are books that must remain CLOSED, for all time."
- From "The Last Book of the Observer" as published in the Earth Year 2301
* * *
October 11th, 2262.
William smiled a bitter smile; it had taken a long time to make this happen, and a lot of favours called in, including some insistent pushing by a certain 'associate' of his, up on high, but eventually, it was always going to come down to this...
<Communication Link to Psi Corps Headquarters established.>
"Mr. Bester."
"Ah. High Councillor!" the Psi Cop replied, his expression bright and full of good cheer, "And what can I do for you, this fine morning? And *how* are the children? Well, I trust?"
He forced himself to smile. "Fine; and they will continue to be *fine*, regardless of what I may have been told, by someone, it seems, we both care a great deal for, but for very different reasons."
"I must assume you are referring to Miss Tolmanes. I must admit, since she has returned to the only family she has ever had, Miss Tolmanes has established herself as a fine member of the Corps, and an able assistant. Now how could I have predicted that would happen...High Councillor? After all, she came to us, we didn't even have to *ask*, after all!" Again the honorific, but twisted in the sarcastic tone that the Psi Cop always seemed to use, it seemed, somehow, like an insult..
"Ask, you say, Mr. Bester? Rather, let us talk about blackmail, and betrayal. About how a man twisted the loyalties a proud woman held to her cause, twisted it like a knife twists in the back, until there was no way out. You may believe she’s serving you willingly, Bester...but as we both have learned during the last five years, nothing is ever as it seems."
"I'll take that under advisement....High Councillor. Now, unless there's anything else, I have better things to do with my time, then exchange pleasantries with you."
William nodded. "One more thing, Mr. Bester, and then I'll let you be on your way. Over a year ago, you warned me to keep my guard up; admittedly, I didn't understand what I was guarding against, at the time, but now I do, I make an equal promise to you.
Sooner or later, all that you have worked towards, all that you covet, will come crashing down around you; and when that happens, when war comes again, those who care for life, and for love, and for comrades stolen through trickery, will be waiting. And when there is nowhere else to turn to, when true night falls upon your *beloved* Corps, all the people you have hurt, over the years, all the people who you believed could never touch you.
Well; in any case, you should keep your guard up, Mr. Bester; because I intend to be one of them."
Bester smiled; a final, cold, calculating smile, and then, he nodded. "We'll see."
And then, he was gone, and William's smile became bitter, before he turned away, and walked out into the sunshine over Tuzanor. Another matter, for another day, and another time.
* * *
"And in the end, it was as the President had said; I had known when it was time to step aside. But at the same time, whether he knew it or not, the President finally *did* do what I had wanted him to; he never said anything, the day that day that Delenn arrived in Council for the first time; but our gazes met, and we nodded to one another; old warriors passing in the night; some things just never change!
But just the same, even I have to admit, I suppose, that we're coming to the end of something, to another of G'kar's 'moments of Transition' (Blame G'kael for making me read *his* book, it wasn't my idea!) And as for my ever-worrying Observers, I suppose that, in the end, some of what they've been saying all along, is true, after all. It doesn't really matter how many battles you've fought, where you've been, what you've seen, what you've done, as long as the really important things stay the same.
As long as love, and life, and hope remain, we will prevail."
- From the Chronicles Log of William Westcastle, December 2262
* * *
Next time: The grand finale is at hand, as Julia takes her vows to become a Ranger, and those who have survived show up, to see the beginning of this new destiny!
"The Star that Lights the Way." the final part of THE WALKERS IN THE DARKNESS, coming soon.